Belgium national cricket team
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| Belgium | |
 |
|
| ICC membership granted | 1991 |
| ICC member status | Associate Member |
| ICC development region | Europe |
| Captain | Atif Malik |
| World Cricket League division | n/a |
| European Cricket Championship division | Three |
| First recorded match | 1905 v The Netherlands |
| As of 10 September 2006 | |
The Belgian cricket team is the team that represents the country of Belgium in international cricket.
Contents |
[edit] A Brief History
[edit] Early Days
A match between British Guards officers is reported to have taken place prior to the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, however the first record of organised cricket dates to 1866. A painting dated 1870 hangs in the pavilion of the Lord's Cricket Ground, which depicts the opening of the Brussels Cricket Ground by the mayor in 1866. The mayor at that time was Jules Anspach. [1]
[edit] The first clubs
The first, and most successful club, is Royal Brussels CC. This club dates its history back to the afore-mentioned painting and has played many matches against English clubs, and spent a time playing in the Dutch national league.
Another early club was the Antwerp Athletic Club, which included cricket amongst it's sports when founded in 1880. The club folded in 1892, but the cricket players took just 48 hours to establish the Antwerp Cricket Club. This club also gave rise to the Royal Antwerp soccer team. [2]
[edit] International matches start
A semi-annual match against The Netherlands started in 1905, and in 1910 Belgium hosted an exhibition tournament against the MCC, The Netherlands and France. They lost to the MCC by an innings and 209 runs [3], and also lost to The Netherlands by 116 runs. [4]
[edit] ICC Membership
The Belgian Cricket Federation was formed in 1990 [5], and they gained Affiliate Membership of the ICC a year later. They were promoted to Associate Membership in 2005. [6]
[edit] Recent Activity
After becoming an ICC Associate Member, they were one of the favourites to progress from the 2005 European Affiliates Championship to Division Two of the 2006 European Championship, however they finished 4th, thus putting them out of the running for the 2011 World Cup. They will now play in the new European Championship Division Three tournament in 2007. [7]
[edit] Tournament History
[edit] World Cup
Belgium have never qualified for the Cricket World Cup
[edit] ICC Trophy
- 1979 to 2001 inclusive: Not eligible - ICC Affiliate Member
- 2005: Did not qualify
[edit] European Championship
Belgium have never qualified for this tournament. A new structure has been introduced as from 2006, which will see Belgium compete in Division Three, which is the equivalent of the old European Affiliates Championship.
[edit] European Affiliates Championship
- 1999: 9th place
- 2001: Semi Finals
- 2003: 6th place
- 2005: 4th place
